brown



(No Mdel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. L. BROWN 8: D. GARLIN.

FIRE HYDRANT.

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#K F If g m. a v e n "1 u 3 E a a C Y La (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. -J. LLBROWN 8v D. GARLIN.

FIRE HYDRANT.

Patented Deg. 24, 1895.

AfMaMM 9 Aw a UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOHN L'. nnowN AN n vu) (YARLIN, or ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

FlRE-HYDRANT.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 551,919, dated December 24, 1895.

Application filed August 16, 1894. Serial No. 520,341. (No model To ail whom it may concern:

-Be it known that we, J oHNL. BROWN and DAVID CARLIN, residents of Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Hydrants; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention relates to fire and similar hydrants-that is, more particularly to that class of hydrants employed in streets to supply a' large body of water from the watermains to the-engines in case of fire, or for the flooding and cleaning of streets. Its object is to provide a hydrant which overcomes the necessity of the taking away or removal of the stand-pipe when repairing the working parts; which prevents the flooding of cellars of adjacent property in case the stand-pipe should be broken; which prevents the continuous waste of water through the drip-passages. when the valve is open and the hydrant in use, and by which the necessity of contracting the water-way through the hydrant so as to reduce the supply through the same, is prevented, as well as to provide working parts, which, thoughloeated in the lower part of the apparatus, can be easily removed through the stand-pipe for repair; to provide for the adjustment of the stand-pipe in any desired direction; to insure the closing of the drip-passages when the hydrant is open, and

to prevent the washing away of the earth around the hydrant and the undermining of i the pavement by the water passing through such drip-passages.

' To these ends our invention comprises, generally stated, a fire-hydrant having a base,

an intermediate valve-case resting on the base, and a stand-pipe resting on and supported by the valve-case, a valve ring or seat insertible from above into the intermediate valve-case and a valve closing from below against the valve-seat, as well as certain other improvements, such as in the method of packing both the valve-ring and the stand-pipe, and other improvements which will be hereinafter referred to.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will describe the same more fully, referring to the aecompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the fire-hydrant. Fig. 2-- is an enlarged detailed vertical section showing valve closed. Fig. 3 is a like view showing valve open and the drainage-ports closed. Fig. 4 is a per= spective section showing the valve-ring. Fig. 5 is a perspective section showing the valve ease or body. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the main valve and drip-valves. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the top plate and the devices f r operating the valve; and Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the manner of removing and inserting the valve-ring in the valvebody.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each of the'views.

The fire-hydrant is supported on any suitable base a, which is connected to the watermain above which base and resting thereon is what we term the intermediate valve-case l), on which rests the stand-pipe c, which supports at the upper end the mechanism for operating the valve, and has at one side a nozzle to which the hose is connected. The base ing annular flange 6, onto which the valve ring or seat (I is seated, or when a metallic valve is used, upon which rests the gasket 6', said gasket being compressed upon the seat 6 by the valve-ring (1, so forming a tight joint between the valve-case and seat at the base thereof. r

To form a tight joint between the upper parts of the valvecase and "alve-ring, we form on the valve-ring (Z the'annular flange d, which extends over the top face of the valvecase and under which we prefer to carry the packing c or another separate ring which is compressed between the top face of the valvecase and said-flange d.

It will be noticed that on the inner face of the valve-ease there is also formed the annular drainage-recess e which opens at intervals through the valve-case to form the drainage-passages e", the annular recess e being employed so as to provide for the escape of the dripping, no matter what position the valvering (1 may occupy in the valve-case b.

The valve-ring d has a threaded outer face (1 below the flange (l and its lower face (1", which is plain, either acts to compressthe'gasket d above referred to, which forms the seat of the valve, or itself forms the seat of the valve, as may be desired. It will thus be seen that the valve-ring is insertible from above into the valve body or case b, and, as will be seen from the,drawings,the valve f closes from below against the valve-seat, closing with the pressure or flow of the water, the hydrostatic pressure in the mainassistin g in holding the Valve closed, the force being generally sufficient to hold the valve closed even where by accident the mechanism at the top of the stand-pipe becomes inoperative, or the standpipe itself is broken so that it will not support such mechanism. The valve f has a valve-stem f, which extends up through the stand-pipe and enters into the depending socket g of the top plate g secured to the top of the stand-pipe and carrying the operative mechanism hereinafter described.

It will be noticed that extending inwardly from the valve-ring are the lugs 71-, in each of which is formed the drip-passage h, the valveport 72 of which opens upwardly through the lug, while the passage itself runs horizontally to the outer case of the ring and communicates with the annular drip-recess e in the inner face of the valve-case b. The valvestem f carries just above the valve f the dripvalves 2', which are connected to the ring *i, and have two standards 2' extending up above the lugs 71, the valves proper 1' extending thus outwardly over the lugs and carrying any suitable elastic plug i which forms the valve face; and when the main valve is lowered the drip-valves are lowered with it and bear upon the drip-valve ports 7L2 of the lugs h and close the same, such valve-ports being closed not only by the weight of the main valve and its stem, but the drip-valves being forced down into the same by the operative mechanism hereinafter described.

It will also be noticed that the standards i have their outer faces formed on a concave or depressed, as at i, to fit around the lugs 71, which lugs in the valve-ring d in this way act as guides, in connection with the dripvalve, to prevent the turning of the main valves. The base, valve-case and stand-pipe are connected together by the bolts j, which pass through the ringj fitting over the baseflange of the stand-pipe and engaging with the seats in the base a, as at 7' struetion the stand-pipe can be adjusted to any desired position, so that its nozzle extends out toward the street, no matter what the position of the base a may be.

It is also to be noticed that the ring j has B y such conthe annular depending shield j", which extends down over the valvecase b. This forms an annular chamber between the valvecase and shield j, which prevents access of dirt to the drip passages e" of the valve-case, and the drip-passages 6 open into such space, so that any drainage or dripping will strike it directly against said shield, which will dc flect it in a downwardly direction and prevent the washing out or undermining of the earth around the hydrant.

The depending socket g of the top late is square or angular in'the lowerportion t ereof, and the upper end of the rod fis correspondingly squared, as at f to fit into such! angular socket, so holding the upper end of the valve-rod from turning, while above said squared portion is the threaded upper end f which engages with the sleeve-nut k,having at its upper end the angular wrench-seat 70 by which the nut-is turned. The sleeve-nut 7c is mounted in the annular upwardly-extending ring g on the top plate g and has the flange k at the base thereof, which fits neatly into the seat 9 formed therefor, the interior of the ring above said seat g being of greater diameter than the seat, so as to form a flat shoulder or offset 9 to receive the metallic washer l, which rests on such shoulder,while above such washer is a suitable compressible packing-ring, and above such packingring the male portion l of the stufiipg-box l enters within the ring 9 properly packing the sleeve-nut within the ring 9 v This permits the free and easy turning of the same, as the base-flange k of the sleeve-nut is not tightly confined by the socket I. The male portion 1 of the stuffing-box is held in place by the nuts m on the bolts m, which also extend up above the stuffing box and over which the cap n fits, said cap surrounding the top plate 5 and being held in place by the nuts m on the bolts m, and angular wrenchseat k of the sleeve-n ut extending out through such cap.

In Fig. 3 we have illustrated the method of inserting and withdrawing the valve-ring, and we will now describe the same: It will be noticed that on the outer face of the upper part of the valve-ringabove the flange d are the lugs 19. These lugs are engaged by the sleeve-wrench 'r, the body of which is formed of a long tube slipping around the valve-stem f and carrying at the lower end the enlarged socket 2", which has recesses in its inner face passing around the lugs 1) of the valve-ring, the socket 'r resting on the flange d of thevalve-ring. The wrench has at its upper end the handles 7 and passing within the tubular portion of the wrench is the sleeve-nut s, which screws upon the threaded end f of the stem, and so, by drawing up the valve, clamps the valve-ringd between the base of the socket r of the wrench and of the valve f, the sleeve-nut 8 bearing,

turning the wrench the valve-ring d can be either screwed into the valve-case b or screwed out of the same, it being thus made possible to insert the valve-ring into the valve-case without removing or interfering in any way with the stand-pipe. In inserting the valve and its ring in place, the parts are clamped together, the valve-ring being slipped over the valve, the washer being interposed be- IO tween the valve-ring and the valve and the wrench 'r then being slipped over the valvestem and engaging with the valve-ring, and

' the parts being clamped together in the proper position, so that when the whole is lowered through the stand-pipe and screwed to place, the gasket or washer e is lowered upon the seat formed therefor in thevalve-case and is clamped upon said seat by the valve-ring as y it is screwed to place. The sleeve-nut s can then be loosened and'the wrench withdrawn,

' draws the valve f against the valve-seat or leaving the parts in operative position. The top plate can then be secured in place and the cap at placed over the same, and the hydrant is ready for use.

In the use of the hydrant, by turning the sleeve-nut k the valve-stem is raised and gasket, so closing the hydrant and closing the same in the direction of the flow of the water 0 through the main, so that the pressure of the 4o valve-stem.

water assists in the closing of the hydrant.

The hydrant is opened by turning the sleeve-;

5 main-valvef, the drip-valves i are raised from the ports of the drip-passages, and so give a free exit for all the water contained within the stand-pipe; and the water flows through such drip-passages and strikes against the depending shield which breaks the force of the same and prevents the washing of the'dirt around the hydrant, as above described.

The operative mechanism is thus capable 'of being inserted and withdrawn without interferin g in any way with the main parts of the hydrant, and without the necessity of the removal of the stand-pipe. In case of accidents to the fire-hydrants, such as the breaking of the body of the stand-pipe or of the head thereof, as the valve closes with the pressure of the water it is naturally held to its place, and flooding from such accident to the hydrant is prevented.

The valve-case b may be made interchangeable and may be employed with any construction of base and stand-pipe being made to fit the same.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination of a base, an intermediate valve case resting on the case, a standpipe resting on and supported by the valve case, a valve ring or seat insertible from above into the intermediate valve case, and a valve closing from below against the valve seat, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a base, stand pipe, an intermediate valve case between the base and stand pipe, and a clamping ring engaging with the stand pipe and connected to the base and clamping/the valve case between them, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of abase, a stand pipe,

an intermediate valve case between them,

having drip passages therein, and a clamping.

ring engaging with the stand pipe and connected to the base and clamping the valve case between them, such clamping ring having an annular depending shield, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination of a base, an intermediate valve case resting on the base, a standpipe resting on and supported by the valve case, a washer fitting over the top of the valve case and clamped between it and the standpipe, and a ring inserted in the valve case and having a flange extending over said washer, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of an annular valve ring having inwardly projecting lugsand drip passages formed therein and having said passages opening upwardly through saidlugs, a main valve seating itself upwardly against the valve ring, standards rigid with the main valve having concave outer faces fitting around said lugs and carrying drip valves closing downwardly upon the drip ports, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a valve case having an annular drip recess in its inner face and drip passages leading therefrom through the case, and an annular valve ring insertible into the valve case and having drip passages lead-' ing through the same and communicating with'the annular drip recess, substantially as p and for the purposes set forth.

7. the combination of a valve case having the seat e at the base thereof, a gasket resting on said seat and a valve ring screwing into the valve seat and upon said gasket, said valve case having an annular drip recess in its inner face and passages leading therefrom through the case, and said valve ring having drip passages communicating with said annnlar drip recess, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. The combination of a valve body, a valve ring screwing into said bodyfrom above, a valve seating itself upwardly against the valve ring and having a stem extending upwardly through the valve body, and a sleeve wrench fitting over said valve stem and engaging with the valve ring to turn the same,

C i and a nut engaging with the valve stem to clamp the wrench to the valve ring, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

9. The combination of a valve body, avalv'e' ring screwing into said body from above, a

valve seating itself upwardly against the valve ring and having a stem extending upwardly through the valve body, and a sleeve wrenchand engaging with the valve stem to clamp-the wrench upon the valve ring, substantially as and. for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof we, the said JOHN L. :5 BROWN and DAVID GARLINJ have hereunto set our hands.

' JOHN L. BROWN. DAVID CARLIN. Vitnesses ROBT. D. TOTTEN, ROBERT C. TOTTEN. 

